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This is pure genius, it inspired me to write a verse about 2012 as well this morning, I've been listening to this track nonstop since I got this new KRS CD "The BDP Album" in the mail yesterday, ain't none of today's young rappers dropping this much knowledge, even J. Cole can't top this, KRS is still hip hop elite in 2012 baby!!!: http://rapgenius.com/Krs-one-aztechnical-lyrics Verse One: If you don't like what you wearing, you get a different look You wanna escape Armageddon, read a different book When knowledge is right there, we don't even look December 2012 got this whole world shook But look, the last days for others are the first days for us The question to ask is who can you trust Respect to all that 2012 stuff But when you really study it it's fear, it don't apply to us Yo, Hollywood lies to us, all day The question is what does your culture say Where's your culture at? Who's your prophet? What history guides your spiritual logic? It starts with a story, then it's hypnotic Then any myth that comes along, you just adopted it Why? Because your culture, you forgot it December 2012, let's continue this topic Turn the page, the present world age Began 3114 BC According to the Mayan calendar, this age concludes December 21st 2012 AD This 5125 years cycle of calm is one world age Nothing changes overnight, it's all a process A transition, it happens over many days In the Mayan calculation a K'in, is one day The Mayan Winal, that's 20 days The Tun is 360 days A K'atun is 7200 days The B'ak'tun is 144,000 days And they applied that to the Milky Way In the cycles they saw the sun Moving across the Milky Way's equator Lining up with other galactic neighbors We've been shifting for 30 years it seems From 1980 to about 2016 The shift is now, it's occurring now But if you're learning from the movies you won't know how to survive Or stay alive after the storm Cause after that a new world order is born Oh, you don't know, man? About they programs? You still watching Lindsay, you don't see that low hand? Let go, man, the flood is coming Don't be scared, get prepared, keep your motor running Rock with me [Hook] Higher level [Verse 2] Yep, it's all mass control, here's the philosophy Cortés knew about the Aztec prophecy Before he invaded their society He studied their cultural psychology He knew they had armor, guns, and steeds So he arrived in the Aztec year 1-Reed That's the year Quetzalcoatl Was prophecized to return from exile in fact Cortés played out the Aztec myth And took away those people's will to resist Cortés played on religious beliefs And blinded the Aztecs, cause he was a thief Look, the Yucatan, that's a Mayan book of cycles It lets the Mayans know when the Gods are gonna strike you In fact, every 13 K'atuns you see The Mayans were visited with a catastrophe So every 200 and 56 or 7 years The Mayan people lived with this fear So on the island of Tayasal now Flores The Spanish came armed with this knowledge They knew according to the Mayan heavens That the next cycle was 1697 So as the Mayans stood there fixed on the heavens The Spanish showed up with all of their weapons March 13th, 1697 The Mayan people learned a terrible lesson Your fears and tears are used against you Cause 80% of world control is mental But back to the Mayans, they getting some more 257 years after Tayasal A US-backed coup overthrows their democracy in 1954 That's exactly 257 years from when the Spaniards arrived at their shores I'm getting to the core of the lesson Lets see what happens in 2211 That's the next cycle, that people remember Like 2012, the 21st of December The consciousness may shift, you may turn the light But you are the universe, you're gonna be alright The pole may shift, your soul may lift To higher consciousness but you know all this The Edutainment style will persist Forget the fear, it's knowledge that runs all this [Hook]


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Measurement conversion charts and converters for metric, imperial and United States Customary systems. Includes from everyday use to scientific calculators, thousands of units, definitions, abbreviations and formulas.
Choose from wide variety of unit conversion tools and conversion charts for fast lookup.
People have been measuring things for thousands of years.Ancient Egyptians used fingers, hands and arms to measure things. One finger is a digit, 4 fingers a palm, the distance between their elbow to the fingers is a cubit etc. All these units of measurement were based on something familiar to them, such as their body parts, but even the results varied from person to person. Almost all countries or cultures used different units of measurement and conversion of units within or between the same systems has become a problem. There was no agreed upon standard of measurement.
Imperial System:
The Imperial system is derived from the old English units which evolved from the hundreds of Roman, Celtic and Anglo-Saxon units used in history. English units were used until 1824 and then the official imperial system was defined by the British Weights and Measures Act as the standard measurement system in Britain and in commonwealth countries. Within years, the units were refined and reduced. In 1965, the metric system was adopted but still several common units are being used in everyday life (foot, inch, mile etc).
US Customary System:
US Customary system is the measurement system used in the United States and a few Caribbean countries. It's derived from the old English measurement system similar to the imperial system, but it was used in the United States before the imperial system was defined in 1824, that's why most of the measurement unit names are the same but the values might be slightly different, especially for the weight and volume units. In 1832, it was officially accepted to be used by customs officials at US ports and missed the opportunity to adopt the Metric system (originated in 1790 in France) as early as the 19th century. Later, in 1893, many units were redefined in terms of meter and kilogram (imported from metric system) and redefined again in 1959 by the international yard and pound agreement between six nations (US, UK, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa) so that the yard is redefined to be as exactly 0.9144 meter and the pound as exactly 0.45359237 kilogram. Metrication in the US is not officially enforced, unlike the other nations. US Customary units are commonly used in everyday life but for science, military and medicine, metric units are mostly used.
Metric System:
Metric system is a decimalized measurement system created in 1790 during the French revolution for the purpose of creating a measurement system for everybody. The base length unit was the metre (the definition was replaced later in 1983), the volume unit was litre (one thousandth of a cubic metre) and the unit of mass was the kilogram (mass of one litre of water). The kilogram and metre prototypes were kept by French government until 1875. In 1875, Metre Convention (Treaty of the Metre) was signed by the 17 countries for the purpose of administering the maintenance and the development of metric standards globally. Three international organizations were born. They are the General Conference on Weights and Measures (decision making organization, meets every 4-6 years to discuss the new developments in the Metric system), International Committee for Weights and Measures (18 high scientific standing individuals from member countries to advise on technical matters) and BIPM (International Bureau of Weights and Measures to ensure the uniformity of metric weights and measures around the world). After 1875, the prototypes are kept at the office of BIPM in France.
The unit names are based on adding the prefixes "centi", "kilo' etc as decimal multipliers, which makes the Metric system very easy compared to the other measurement systems, since to convert between the units, all you have to do is to multiply by a decimal. For example, to calculate how many centimeters in a meter, all you have to do is multiply it by 100 since "centi" denotes a factor of one hundredth in metric system. In imperial or US Customary, to calculate how many inches in a mile, you must know how many inches in a foot, then how many feet in a mile and then multiply these two results to find your answer which is a kind of a difficulty for many people.
Here are the metric prefixes and their symbols:
SI - International System of Units:
Metric system was based on the metre and kilogram standards, but was not enough for all types of physics measurements, so 1960 SI (International System of Units) was born. It is an evolving measurement system which means the units are redefined as needed and new ones added. SI is the world's mostly used measurement system, adopted globally except United States, Burma and Liberia.
There are seven base units in SI system. They are metre for length, kilogram for mass, second for time, ampere for electric current, kelvin for temperature, candela for luminous intensity and mole for amount of substance. All the other units are based on these units and they are called derived units.
For more information about these measurement systems, visit links

subset: commoncrawl


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World War III Primer
Tom Clancy's EndWar World War III Primer
You've chosen your side. World War III has begun. You still have a lot of fighting to do before you'll go down in history as a leader or a loser, and whether you're successful or not depends entirely on your ability to command. Will you lead your forces to victory, or endure embarrassing and total defeat?
If you don't believe in yourself, remember: you'll never realize your full potential if you don't try. We've given you the tools, and with them, you've built a foundation. Thus, you're well on your way to becoming a heck of a commander. Before we leave you to your own devices, we'll answer a few of your questions.
Q // Are the forces of Europe, Russia, and the USA very different? |
A // No. Each force has virtually identical units. Their differences lie in the battles they fight. All three have completely unique missions, and your progression is wholly based on how you choose your battles. In most cases, you can only choose one of many battles, and will be unable to fight the others when you're done. Additionally, losing a round equals losing it forever—there are no second chances in EndWar. That applies to quitting too, so if you want to retry a mission, you must reset your game.
Q: What new units do you gain in World War III? |
A: The Command Vehicle and Artillery. In the first WWIII mission, you'll be introduced to the Command Vehicle. With it, you can access the SitRep ("Situation Report"), which lets you inspect the entire field of battle from an overhead point of view. You may also bestow additional abilities upon it by spending your CR in the Barracks. Upgrade it once, and it will detect enemy minefields and see through your aggressor's stealth abilities. Upgrade it twice, and you'll be able to deploy UAVs ("Unmanned Aerial Vehicles"). It's one of the most useful toys you've received in a while, and you should get accustomed to utilizing it.
Gained in the second WWIII mission, artillery is a devastatingly powerful weapon, and it has the longest range in the game. It functions best when you're far away from the enemies you're fighting, as it's extremely vulnerable to close combat. Fortunately, these babies are on wheels, so you can move them out of unfriendly fire, or relocate them to an ideal firing range. You can read more about this and the Command Vehicle within the "Combat Chain Expanded" section, which includes a video of the SitRep in action.
Q: How can I move several units with just one command? |
A // You can do it with Multiple Selection. Also in the first WWIII mission, you'll be shown a screen on "Selecting Multiple Units." To perform this, start by highlighting the Deployment Card for the first unit, then hold down the Multiple Selection button, and use the directional pad to highlight another. Press up to confirm your selection, and finally, press Special Action to save them as a group. When you give your Active Group orders, they'll all execute them simultaneously and identically.
Q: Is there a way to upgrade my units outside of the battlefield? |
First Upgrade | 100,000CR |
Second Upgrade | 300,000CR |
Third Upgrade | 900,000CR |
Last Upgrade | 1,200,000CR |
A // There's only one place where you can, and that's in the Barracks. Once you've chosen your battalion and war is properly declared, you will be presented with the Situation Room screen for the first time. On the bottom of it, you'll see a new option for "Barracks," which is basically EndWar's in-game shop. Using the CR you've accumulated, you can purchase upgrades for your units, which improves their Attack, Defense, Agility, or whatever else you may choose. Each type of upgrade has four levels, and their costs are as follows:
If these upgraded units are lost, you won't get a refund on your investment. Don't abandon them on the battlefield when they're under heavy attack! Bring them home safely. If you're wondering how you'll get to pick and choose between them, that's a new option you'll receive after you've left the Barracks and started a new mission. Simply put, you'll highlight a Deployment Card on the Force Deployment screen, press up, and then press up again to select a specific unit. Enjoy demolishing the enemy with your freshly empowered forces!
Q: What can I expect from my enemies in World War III? |
A // For the most part, they'll attack you using methods you'll recognize. The Combat Chain will always apply, but only you have the advantage of calling upon your foe's weaknesses, as the AI's deployment choices are set in advance. This means that you can capitalize upon their ignorance, but don't let your guard down, as a severely suffering enemy won't hesitate to use WMDs against you. These can instantly kill entire units of garrisoned soldiers and obliterate vehicles, which—if you've been upgrading them—will wipe away all your hard work in the blink of an eye. Thus, you should never hesitate to pull your units out of harm's way, whether their HP is low or DEFCON grants your foe the right to use WMDs. Fight smartly, and you will inevitably triumph.
Give us feedback! | On to Closing Notes... |


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If you haven't clicked over to the Zondervan blog to read Chuck Colson's extended reply to Kazim, by all means do so. It's really quite something, a rhetorical mishmash chock full of logical fallacies, false premises, and poor argument structure. One of Christianity's bestselling apologists mounts some of the most amateurish defenses of the faith I've ever seen. Quite often — no doubt used to writing almost exclusively for a Christian readership who unquestioningly accepts all he says — he just asserts things without backing them up, or, if he does, with feeble sound bites that may seem like obvious conclusions to him, but won't to anyone who thinks about them for longer than a picosecond.
I've been replying to a lot of points in the comments over there, but for this one specific passage, I'm posting my reply here, with only slight copy editing so it reads like a blog post and not a comment. I hope Zondervan has the integrity to leave my comments and those of other atheists up, and doesn't do the Uncommon Descent insta-delete thing. Whatever they choose, I'm posting this one bit here, as I think it's an important one. Because in this passage, Colson makes an embarrassing mistake in arguing for his God that, unfortunately, doesn't paint God in a very flattering light. Indeed, he unwittingly makes his God into a rather pathetic and weak figure.
Colson starts:
You're making the assumption that for God to be God, or for you to believe in Him, He must reveal Himself by giving us evidence which by reason would establish His existence. But why should the God who created everything that is explain Himself? What would compel such a God to do that?
Gosh, what about that crazy little thing called love? Over and over Christians try to tell us that God is love, that he loves us and wants a personal relationship with us, etc. etc. And yet when God is asked, entirely reasonably, to reveal his existence to us unambiguously, suddenly we're the jerks! This is kind of hard to swallow in light of the fact this God purportedly sentences anyone who doesn't believe in or worship him to his satisfaction to eternal torture in Hell!
Ironically, just a few paragraphs earlier, Mr. Colson asks rhetorically...
Is not the capacity for love, though you cannot see it, something which can be objectively (though not scientifically) measured?
Yes, it is (though Colson's confused on his terms — the ways in which the emotions of love manifest in observable behavior are something science can study). And I would suggest that one measure of the capacity for love is that one does not deceive the object of one's love, that one does not hide that which should not and does not need to be hidden, that one treats the object of one's love with generosity, kindness and above all, respect.
It is not an act of respect — let alone love — to condemn someone to a horrible punishment simply for doubting your existence when you have categorically refused to reveal your existence. That you are a universe-creating deity is irrelevant to the issue. If your argument is that God, being God, doesn't owe anybody anything, because HE'S GOD, SO SHUT UP, then why should human beings with reasoning capacity respond to that kind of arrogant disrespect with love and respect ourselves? To do so would only be a dishonest love borne out of fear. Mr. Colson is arguing for God as nothing more than a tyrant, an authoritarian thug and despot. Is this really the message he hopes will persuade atheists?
So in reply to Mr. Colson's question, "But why should the God who created everything that is explain Himself?" my response is simple: If God really loved us, he would.
Yet Mr. Colson goes on with more arguments in favor of God's authoritarianism and privilege, as if these were praiseworthy qualities.
A God great enough to create the heavens and earth, and all of life in it, is a God who has no obligation to explain why He created us. In fact, He has a good reason not to. I believe it was Aquinas who argued that if God could be known to us by reason, we would take Him for granted; He would be no different than the tree that one could see from one's office.
Well, I would argue that God does have such an obligation, especially if the penalty for not being a member of his fan club is eternity in the lake of fire. If God did not want to have any obligations to us, then he should have left us as mindless as amoebas, and not given us the capacity to think and reason, which naturally tends to instill in us feelings of self-worth.
But I cannot imagine who would consider this silly point of Aquinas's to be a "good reason" for God's not revealing himself. It is hardly the case that any person alive holds all of the things they know to exist on some sort of even plateau of worth. Any parent knows that their own children exist; unless they are really horrible parents, that fact certainly does not mean they are as indifferent to their children as they are to a tree.
And doesn't it seem curiously insecure of God to worry about being "taken for granted," when, just a moment ago, Colson was arguing for God's being so magnificent and so glorious and so divinely important and powerful and magisterial in his universe-creating awesomeness that the very idea of revealing himself to us puny humans was simply too far beneath his notice to be anything but absurd? Haven't I seen this before? Oz the Great and Terrible, was it? Bluster, bluster, bluster...but pay no attention to the man behind the curtain!
I'd suggest in future, Colson should consider amending his apologetics so that he doesn't make the rather devastating mistake of following up a bout of "God's too big and awesome and important to reveal himself to mere mortals," with, "But really...he's scared you'll ignore him!"
PS: If you're inclined to leave comments of your own at the Zondervan blog, do remember these basics, please, about which I shouldn't have to ask. Be civil and polite. Keep your language clean. And restrict yourself simply to refuting the points you think need refuting, in detail, without telling Colson you think he must be "some kind of fucking idiot for believing all that crap!" (Civility! From me! Russell must be beaming with pride!)


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Friday, April 8, 2011
WJC Comics No 3
By Warwick Johnson Cadwell
Cadwell's comics shouldn't really work. His artstyle seems to ignore so many things that I think should be present in "good" comic art. The characters' proportions don't make sense, the panel to panel consistency is weak, and characters warp and change.
And yet I love his style. There's something about the way he draws weird looking creatures, robots, and even humans that really appeals to me. His work has energy, dynamism, and an appeal I find hard to pin down.
Of course it's not all perfect, the reproduction on this is kind of terrible. Greys come out so dark it's hard to make out any detail, and I just know we're missing out on certain aspects of the art. Storywise it's just a chase scene, but it's effective at what it does, and as part of a longer narrative it would work really well.
Cadwell has a book coming out from Blank Slate Books later this year, but until then I'll just have to keep looking at his blog so I can discover awesome drawings like this one of Batgirl vs. Killer Croc.
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You may request any court record in the custody of the court's record division. This will include any records for cases adjudicated at the Garland Municipal Court as well as court records signed by a Garland Municipal judge in their capacity as a judge or magistrate for the City of Garland. There are some protected records such as judicial notes that are not subject to the Public Information Act that will not be available. In addition any records that are ordered sealed by court order are not subject to public review without a court order. Court records relating to juveniles are only available on a limited basis to the juvenile defendant, their legal guardian(s)/parents, their spouse, their legal counsel representing them on their case and law enforcement agencies.
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Requests must be in writing according to the Public Information Act. This benefits and protects you as the requester. You can submit your request to the City Secretary's Office.
While the court records department makes every effort to make records available as soon as possible, it can take up to 10 business days to receive your records. For complex or large results it may take longer. The court will contact you within 10 business days of your request in writing to inform you of the estimated time of delivery if your request cannot be accomplished within 10 working days.
Certified court records cost $.10 per page. Additional fees include:
(A) Diskette—$1;
(B) Magnetic tape—actual cost
(C) Data cartridge—actual cost
(D) Tape cartridge—actual cost
(E) Rewritable CD (CD-RW)—$1
(F) Non-rewritable CD (CD-R)—$1
(G) Digital video disc (DVD)—$3
(H) JAZ drive—actual cost
(I) Other electronic media—actual cost
(J) VHS video cassette—$2.50
(K) Audio cassette—$1
(L) Preparation and assembly of records more than 50 pages will incur an additional cost of $18.75 per hour for personnel time.
In some cases the City Attorney's office receives a copy of certain requests. This is standard procedure to ensure proper compliance with the law under the Public Information Act.


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Business Name: Bathroom Remodel Dayton Business Address: 110 Senna Ct Dayton, OH 45431 Business Phone: (937) 489-4894 Business E-mail: email@example.com Business Keywords: bathroom remodel dayton, bathroom remodeling dayton ohio, bathroom remodel dayton ohio, kitchen remodeling dayton oh, kitchen remodel dayton ohio, kitchen remodeling dayton ohio, dayton home remodeling, dayton bathroom remodeling Business Description: In need of a Bathroom Remodel in Dayton Ohio? Our expert team has been serving the Dayton area for over 2 decades. Fill out a quote form for a free estimate! Business Hours: Monday to Friday: 8AM–7PM Saturday: 9AM–6PM Sunday: 10AM–5PM Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/bathroomremodeldayton Google+: https://g.page/bathroom-remodel-dayton Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/bathroom-remodel-dayton-dayton


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Geysers to Glaciers with Alaska Cruise
Breathtaking glacier lakes, rugged mountains, stunning waterfalls, fascinating geysers, tremendous slabs of ice breaking off and "calving" into the sea, and the "big sky"—these and much more wait for you on this National Parks tour with an Alaska cruise. Your tour starts in Salt Lake City, ends in Seattle, and overnights along the way in Jackson, Yellowstone National Park, Helena, Kalispell, Spokane, and aboard Holland America's MS Eurodam. Stay inside Yellowstone National Park, where you'll view the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone and stand in awe as you hear the roar of the water and view the glorious falls of Yellowstone's impressive Upper and Lower Falls. Witness Old Faithful Geyser as it explodes into the air and admire the herds of bison, elk, and other wildlife as you travel the park. In Grand Teton National Park, enjoy beautiful glacier-fed Jenny Lake and the rugged mountains crested with snow most of the year. In Coeur d'Alene, explore the lakefront town and enjoy Lake Coeur d'Alene, a striking lake with a boardwalk perfect for a stroll! On your Alaska cruise, visit Juneau, Sitka, Ketchikan, and Victoria. A highlight of this western National Parks tour is your ride on the vintage Red Jammer bus in Glacier National Park, with its pristine forests, jagged mountains, alpine meadows, and gorgeous lakes. You'll drive along the Going-to-the-Sun Road, one of North America's most spectacular roadways. Hugging the mountainside, witness stunning scenery along the way. This National Parks tour also includes sightseeing in Salt Lake City and Seattle, a full day of leisure in Jackson, and a stop at the National Bison Range with a chance to watch for bison, elk, antelope, and mountain sheep. Scenic drives will let you discover why Montana is called Big Sky Country. For the value-minded traveler, this tour is a dream vacation!
City Highlights
Sightseeing:In Seattle, orientation tour in Salt Lake City, Canyon Earthquake Lake Visitors Center, National Bison Range Visitors Center, and the Red Jammer buses. Inside visits as shown in UPPERCASE in the tour description, including admission charges where applicable.
SALT LAKE CITY Comfort Inn Downtown Salt Lake City (ST)JACKSON Painted Buffalo Inn (ST) YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK Yellowstone National Park Lodges (NP)HELENA La Quinta Inn & Suites (ST)KALISPELL Red Lion Hotel Kalispell (F) SPOKANE Red Lion River Inn (F)SEATTLE Quality Inn & Suites Seattle Center (ST)ALASKA CRUISE Holland America's MS Eurodam
7 breakfasts, 6 lunches, 7 dinners
NOTE:Cruise itineraries are provided by Holland America Line and are up to date at time of printing. Your travel documents will contain the most current information.
Transportation:Red Jammer buses on Going-to-the-Sun Road; Holland America's MS Eurodam; private, deluxe, air-conditioned motorcoach while touring.


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Producers should enroll soon
USDA's Farm Service Agency (FSA) encourages agricultural producers to enroll now in the Agriculture Risk Loss (ARC) and Price Loss Coverage (PLC) programs. March 15, 2020 is the enrollment deadline for the 2019 crop year.
Although more than 200,000 producers have enrolled to date, FSA anticipates 1.5 million producers will enroll for ARC and PLC. By enrolling soon, producers can beat the rush as the deadline nears.
FSA offices have multiple programs competing for the time and attention of our staff. Because of the importance and complexities of the ARC and PLC programs; and to ensure FSA meets your program delivery expectations, please do not wait to start the enrollment process. Call your FSA county office and make an appointment soon to ensure your elections are made and contracts signed well ahead of the deadlines.
ARC and PLC provide financial protections to farmers from substantial drops in crop prices or revenues and are vital economic safety nets for most American farms.
The programs cover the following commodities: barley, canola, large and small chickpeas, corn, crambe, flaxseed, grain sorghum, lentils, mustard seed, oats, peanuts, dry peas, rapeseed, long grain rice, medium and short grain rice, safflower seed, seed cotton, sesame, soybeans, sunflower seed and wheat.
Until March 15, producers who have not yet enrolled in ARC or PLC for 2019 can enroll for both 2019 and 2020 during the same visit to an FSA county office unless yield updates are requested. Additionally, farm owners have a one-time opportunity to update PLC payment yields that take effect beginning with crop year 2020. If the owner accompanies the producer to the office, the yield update and enrollments may be completed during the same office visit.
For more information on ARC and PLC, download our program fact sheet or our 2014-2018 farm bills comparison fact sheet. Online ARC and PLC election decision tools are available at www.fsa.usda.gov/arc-plc. To enroll, contact your FSA county office for an appointment.


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The State board has interpreted the law and the electrical code to require that a photovoltaic system as defined by 527 CMR 12, Article 690.2 and associated apparatus such as but not limited to frames, racks and modules must be assembled and installed by a licensed electrician. This is strictly enforced.
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You need a building permit for any project to your home that is not cosmetic.
You need a permit if the fence is over 7 feet in height.
A permit is needed for one-story detached accessory buildings used as tool sheds, playhouses, and similar uses, provided the floor area exceeds 200 square feet.
Use the height of the highest point of the roof above the foundation plus the weighted average of the finished grade to the top of the foundation. This cannot exceed the Town of Dover Bylaw, Section 5.2 Schedule of Dimensional Requirements maximum of 35 feet.
The Zoning Enforcing Officer will check the Schedule of Dimensional Requirements of the Town of Dover for you.


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How the Obama administration continues use of Bush-era powers to suppress legitimate debate about the needs of US national security. By Jeff Howard.
In 2004, Nicholas Merrill received a letter from the FBI. The owner of a small internet service provider, Merrill was shocked by its content. The letter demanded that Merrill hand over all the information he had on one of his clients, indicating that Merrill would be liable for criminal prosecution if he told anyone the government had approached him. Refusing to comply, Merrill contacted the American Civil Liberties Union and claimed that the letter – one of many "national security letters" authorised under the post-9/11 USA Patriot Act – violated his free speech rights under the first amendment to the US constitution.
The Facts
The idea that the Patriot Act – or, to use its official name, the "United and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism Act" – undermines the first amendment has been a civil libertarian battle cry for a while now. Hundreds of pages in length, the law was enacted in early October 2001, as the New York Times reported, "with little debate in an atmosphere of edgy alarm, as federal law enforcement officials warned that another attack could be imminent". While there have been numerous constitutional controversies surrounding the Act, which significantly increased the government's powers of surveillance and criminal investigation, those concerning free speech have been among the most debated.
In the 2010 US supreme court case Holder v Humanitarian Law Project, the US supreme court assessed the constitutionality of Section 805 of the Act, which criminalises the provision of any "material support" to groups designated as terrorist organisations. The issue was that the Humanitarian Law Project, an American non-profit, wanted to provide legal guidance for Turkey's Kurdistan Worker's Party and the Tamil Tigers – both designated terrorist organisations. According to the Act, such "expert advice or assistance" indeed counts as "material support" – even though the Law Project's only aim was to give advice on how the groups could better employ the peaceful channels of international human rights law to achieve their aims. The supreme court upheld Section 805 on this matter, affirming that the Humanitarian Law Project would be classified as assisting terrorists, and thus criminally liable, were it to communicate such information to them.
Many have viewed the supreme court's affirmation of Section 805 as a great affront to the first amendment when applied in so sweeping and broad a manner. The same goes for other free speech-imperilling portions of the Act, like Section 802, which allows overly broad definitions of "terrorist group." But at least one good thing can be said for Sections 802 and 805: they conduct business in broad daylight. Other sections of the Act – notably those under Title II, which served as modifications to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978 (FISA) – are, by their nature, much less transparent. Take Section 215 which allows the FBI to seize materials that it judges would assist a terrorist investigation. The most discussed implication of this part of the Patriot Act has concerned libraries and the fact that it authorises FBI agents to demand librarians to tell them what books readers borrow and then keep quiet about it; as the New York Civil Liberties Association put it, this provision makes it a crime librarians "to safeguard your privacy or to tell you that you are under investigation".
But librarians are only the tip of the iceberg. Section 215 permits such"national security letters" to be distributed to businesses, organisations, and individuals of all stripes – as in the case of Nicholas Merrill. Between 2003 and 2006, the FBI issued more than 192,500 letters – often issued to American citizens. Most troubling is the inclusion of a "gag order" that prohibits any recipients of the letters from telling anyone very much about their situation. It was only due to a lawsuit-avoiding settlement that Merrill was able to reveal the broad outlines of his story – and, as reported by the Washington Post, he remains subject to a threat of imprisonment if he reveals a peep of the information redacted from thousands of pages of court documents.
Importantly, this provision was not a relic of the Bush era. The Obama administration has sought to make it even easier for the FBI to distribute these letters – often without the approval of a judge. Indeed, the Obama administration appears to be as enthused about increased executive power as its predecessor. On March 5, US Attorney General Eric Holder argued that it was in certain cases perfectly permissible for the executive branch to kill US citizens without judicial oversight – a postmortem defence of the assassination of Anwar al-Awlaki – on the basis much-criticised legal reasoning. And Holder continues to support the FISA Amendments Act of 2008 which, as the Washington Post reports, enables the National Security Agency to "intercept and store 1.7 billion e-mails, phone calls and other types of communication" between the US and a foreign location every day.
The arguments
Since the Obama administration appears not so keen to take the lead on putting the first amendment first, the time has come to answer Nicholas Merrill's plea for a public conversation on Section 215. But before that conversation is to be had, one important point must be hammered home. The question at stake is not whether the government should be able to censor private citizens when so doing would keep the nation safe. That question is much too straightforward (though the proponents of censorship often suggest that this is the question). So stated, that question concerns a clear trade-off between some free speech interest and many people's security in a given case – say, the relatively limited free speech interest someone has in blogging about how to manufacture nerve gas in one's kitchen, weighed against the interest in safety of others who might be harmed by a nefarious blog reader. While such a question is a worthwhile academic one, it is not at all what we are really debating. What we are debating is whether the government should be granted the power to decide secretly whether a given case counts as posing a threat to national security – and then, having secretly made such a judgement, rightly or wrongly, proceed to censor speech or written communication on its basis. We are discussing a matter of what decision-making procedure is justified, not whether it would be justified to censor free speech in some one-off, hypothetical case in which all the facts are clear. In other words: given that we, necessarily, won't know whether the government will act sensibly or insensibly in its decisions to censor, ought we to trust it?
There are two kinds of familiar arguments that answer a resounding "no!" to this question. The first argument is that government is liable to abuse the power it is granted, making decisions that end up harming the very citizens in whose interest such powers were initially granted to protect. This certainly seems to be what Nicholas Merrill suspects: "I did not believe [in 2004], nor do I believe now, that the FBI's gag order was motivated by legitimate national security concerns. It was motivated by a desire to insulate the FBI from public criticism and oversight." But a second argument goes: even if government were to use its covert powers intelligently, people have a right to know about and participate in decision-making that affects them – for no other reason than they would otherwise not be respected properly as citizens and human beings whose voices matter.
It may seem that these are the two available arguments against granting government the kind of powers granted to it by Section 215 of the Patriot Act. But before we begin the debate on these terms, it is worth considering that there might be a third argument for why affording government these covert powers would be objectionable – an argument that avoids some of the weaknesses of the first two. Unlike the first argument, this fresh argument does not assume the very strong claim that government would necessarily have a malicious tendency to abuse its powers, in the normal sense of that word (taking action that it knows it does not actually have the authority, moral or legal, to take). But unlike the second argument, it does not presume that secretive government action, no matter how intelligent, would constitute a violation of people's rights to know and to participate for the sake of knowing and participating (for surely I would happily sacrifice a bit of knowing and participating if I could be sure it would make the difference between life and death!).
On my third argument, what is wrong with Section 215's restrictions on free speech is their cumulative effect. Without an enduringly open public discussion of the pros and cons of different counterterrorism strategies, with reference to actual cases and experiences, we are unlikely to identify accurately the best criteria for deciding what is a good national security policy and what is not. By "best criteria" I mean to include both moral considerations – an evaluation of what trade-offs are acceptable and what trade-offs aren't, something that is best determined through democratic deliberation – and pragmatic considerations about the effectiveness of different strategies, as evaluated from outside the echo chamber of the intelligence community. According to this argument, we need not assume that a government with secretive powers will maliciously abuse its power. But given that Section 215 establishes an enduring practice according to which a relatively small group of fallible humans judge secretly what counts as a weighty national security risk and what does not, we have reason to worry that their criteria for judging may well be imperfect, and increasingly so over time. That a few select members of congress are permitted to overview the distribution of national security letters hardly suffices to establish confidence in democratic accountability.
So let's answer Nicholas Merrill's plea. The time to debate is now.


text:
Helmet and walker rental available onsite for additional fee:
Table rentals available ($12.50 plus tax). To book, please email email@example.com or call 713-897-8232.
Group pricing offered. Please email firstname.lastname@example.com for information. More Information Reservations are available for private parties or corporate events. The Ice Rink also offers skate lessons! For rental information, reservations and other details regarding skate lessons, please contact the Ice Rink at 281-419-5630 or email email@example.com.


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A Close Encounter of the Third Kind with Love.
Joseph Burkes MD 2015
It has been said that consciousness is the "golden thread" that ties us to UFO intelligence. After all if the ET hypothesis is correct and UFOs are an extraterrestrial manifestation, then we are going to be very different from them. We don't share a common history, language or biological evolution, but what both humans and ETs have in common is that we are awake and are aware of that wakefulness.
Perhaps we can share states of being that come from that clear quiet place that we call consciousness itself. For those of us who have met the visitors face to face, there exists the possibility of sharing a sense of peace or joy. Although it may sound corny, as this narrative suggests we may also be able to communicate with, and share love.
My initial enthusiastic support for CSETI 's contact efforts led me to a rather daring action. Some would call it foolish. I decided to set up a CSETI information booth at the American Public Health Association's annual meeting held in Washington DC in November of 1992. I was accompanied by my medical group partner "Dr. Daniel." He was in our Los Angeles CSETI CE-5 Initiative Working Group.
The APHA's meeting draws about 10,000 health professionals whose political views are more to the left than mainstream medicine's views. The APHA has historically championed the health rights of women, ethic minorities and workers. During the first few years of my medical career I had actively participated in the Occupational Health and Safety section of the APHA. In 1979 I was co-founder of the Los Angeles Committee on Occupational Safety and Health, a coalition of health care and legal professionals that endeavored through education and advocacy to make the workplace safer.
At a beautiful new convention center in the nation's capital, under a royal blue banner embroidered with the slogan, " One Universe, One People!" Daniel and I "worked" the conference participants. A small TV monitor played dramatic footage of UFOs, while I called out to passersby, "Would you like to see a UFO video?" Apparently quite a few did, over 250 nurses, doctors and administrators watched the film clips and chatted with us during the 3-day conference. About forty signed up for more information and the bravest shared their personal stories of sightings and other contact experiences.
A Ph.D. professor of nursing gave the most impressive report to me. From her convention badge I identified her as a faculty member from a major university. She watched the videos for a few minutes and then allowed me to interview her about her personal contact experience.
Some 7 years before she reportedly had a Close Encounter of the Third Kind. After nightfall while camping with her fiancée, her tent was filled with a very bright light. All around the campsite she could hear footsteps. Apparently from prior encounters she immediately realized that she was having a contact experience. The professor reported not being able to move but was fully awake. She could not stir her friend that was sound asleep. One humanoid stuck his head into the tent. By her description the being was the typical so called "Gray," big head with wrap around eyes. My nursing colleague told me that she was happily excited and frightened at the same time.
The being quickly retreated but she could see his shadow and those of several others on the walls of her tent that was illuminated by the campfire light. She told me that she sent out the thought, " I love you." In a flash she felt a forceful burst of electric type energy. The sensation surged through her body from the top of her head down to the tip of her toes. The beings left her campsite and the encounter was over.
There are on the exhibit floor, under the bright lights with hundreds of booths and thousands of participants around us, she had described the experience simply, matter of fact, with just a touch of amazement. I was a perfect stranger to her and yet she was willing to share her recollections of an intimate contact with what she believed were non-human beings. I described to her the ambitious goals of CSETI's CE-5 Initiative. She listened politely but chose not to sign up for more information. After all she was a professor at a major university and the notoriety of being a contact experiencer might cause her considerable harm. She wished me well in my crusade and walked away, disappearing into the crowd.
About the author: Joseph Burkes MD volunteered as a Working Group Coordinator for the CE-5 Initiative from 1992 to 1998. He has continued to study the flying saucer phenomenon working with MUFON and the Peruvian contact network now called Rahma. He is co-author of the book "Paths to Contact" edited by Jeff Becker. Dr Burkes retired from the Southern California Permanente Medical Group after thirty years service in 2008. He is a board certified internal medicine physician and is licensed to practice in California.
Compatible History
and response from the curator….
Dr. Burkes knows far too well that the consciousness we call ET is so connected to what we also call 'unconditional love' that it seems surreptitious that others would engage in fear-based conspiracy theories, imho. The frequency response of such deep levels of love can initially feel so intense that they indeed are a bit frightening; the unfamiliar sense of being totally and unconditionally 'loved' by high-frequency beings.
We 'see' them in many ways, from humanoid-looking (most appeasing) to reptilian (most challenging) and even non-bipedal creatures as well. It's been said that we/they present themselves according to the viewer's capacity or willingness to see. A lot of the current focus, though, is still on the lower vibratory realms, the research on encounters, sightings and such. Bridging the professional realms, like Joe did with the APHA, is critical and I believe mandatory today.
International Association for Near Death Studies
I had the opportunity to do the same a few years ago, with the International Association for Near-Death Studies. I applied for a presentation spot at their 2010 annual conference in Denver and got the nod, unexpectedly. After some scheduling rearrangements (initially having an hour, then a half-hour, then being put on a panel with two others and given 20 minutes as I stepped on stage) I felt a little uncomfortable with such demands that I felt were a bit unprofessional. Still, I was there and on stage.
I had a feeling things were going to go awry, so I didn't put my powerpoint together until during the speaker just before us. It turned out to be perfectly timed… I came in just over the 20 minutes they allotted. During my presentation to the clinicians and medical professionals I introduced the notion of how the OBE's, NDEs and STEs were all related and easily lended themselves to accessing what we call ETs and more, including cosmic consciousness.
I noticed some shades drawn with some of the audience but one individual in particular who was a long standing expert in the field, P.M. Atwater, was smiling from ear to ear and nodding continuously as I broached the delicate bridge. I knew I was going to hedge the edge of acceptability with this particular crowd, yet afterward there were several who congratulated me on bridging those worlds. No one to date had attempted to do so at the IANDS annual events.
Btw, I wasn't invited back, either. 🙁 Still, the information was shared. Having multiple close encounters throughout my life has been both a blessing and a curse. I'm blessed with a greater understanding of the 'non-humans;' their perspective on universal law and order. I'm cursed with the misunderstanding and projections of others who are unable to hear from within.
Keep up the great work, Joe!
Here's the video if anyone is interested…. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DlvkmP3eZkE
Dr. Burkes and I had a great conversation a couple of months ago on Inception Radio, too… https://youtu.be/ozQ-HH4jXGU


text: Character Analysis Crooks Crooks is so named because of a crooked back caused by a kick from a horse. Crooks is the stable hand who takes care of the horses and lives by himself because he is the only black man on the ranch. Along with Candy, Crooks is a character used by Steinbeck to show the effects of discrimination. This time the discrimination is based on race, and Crooks is not allowed in the bunkhouse with the white ranch hands. He has his own place in the barn with the ranch animals. Candy realizes he has never been in Crooks' room, and George's reaction to Crooks being involved in their dream is enough to cause Crooks to withdraw his request to be part of the dream. Racial discrimination is part of the microcosm Steinbeck describes in his story. It reaches its height in the novel when Curley's wife puts Crooks "in his place" by telling him that a word from her will have him lynched. Interestingly, only Lennie, the flawed human, does not see the color of Crooks' skin. Crooks also has pride. He is not the descendent of slaves, he tells Lennie, but of landowners. In several places in the story, Steinbeck shows Crook's dignity and pride when he draws himself up and will not "accept charity" from anyone. Crooks also displays this "terrible dignity" when Curley's wife begins to tear away at his hope for the dream farm. Crooks is not without his faults, however. He scares Lennie and makes up the story of George leaving him. Prejudice isn't simply a characteristic of the white ranch hands or the daughter-in-law of the boss; it is a human characteristic, and Crooks needs to feel superior to someone also. That he becomes part of the dream farm is an indication of Crooks' loneliness and insecurity. He, like Candy, realizes that once he is no longer useful he will be "thrown out." Where, then, can he find some security for his future? The dream farm of Lennie's seems to be the place. Crooks promises to work for nothing as long as he can live his life out there without the fear of being put out. Like all the others, he wants a place where he can be independent and have some security. But there is no security for anyone in a prejudiced world, least of all a black stable hand with a crooked back.


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If you missed part one to three on Nso Titles, do not worry, you can still read part 1 here; part 2 here; and part 3 here;
There are many categories of Yahs, almost all of whom derived directly from the palace in earlier years. Of late, beginning with Ngah Bifon I (1910-1947) Yahships have been awarded to certain important lineages without regard to direct derivation from the royal lineage.
The highest-ranking Yah is Yah Yefon (Fengay or Queen Mother). She is the third ranking personality in the land (after Shufai Ndzendzev and Shufai Taankum) by status, administrative and religious function.
Upon assuming the throne the Fon appoints a Yah Yefon from among his female children or his sisters if his birth mother is no longer alive. Yah Yefon is treated like a Fon in all aspects except in special greeting ("bun"). She represents Yee Nso (Ngon Nso), the founder of the Nso dynasty.
The present Yah Yefons that are still alive today are; (At the time this article was written)
Yah Yefon Sehm Mbinglo I
Yah Yefon Ngah Bifon III
Yah Yefon Ngah Bifon II (Yah Adela Nsaidzeka Meyeh)
Yah Yefon Sehm III (Yah Rose Wirnkar)
Yah Yefon Ngah Bifon I (Yah wo Faa)
Yah Yefon Mapri (Yah wo Nso La)
The next Yah in rank is the Yah Yeewong (mother of Nso). She is the second representative of Yee Nso (Ngon Nso), the founder of the Nso dynasty.
When Ngon Nso died around 1421, her son Leh who assumed the throne created the title of Yeewong and Yefon to be combinable and held by a single individual. The two titles were later on separated with Yefon holding the higher title (very silently) and Yah Yeewong the next (very publicly) with a rank equal to Fai Taawong who is also appointed by the new Fon at the same time as Yeewong.
A few Yah Yewongs that are still alive today are:
Yah Yeewong Sehm Mbinglo I (Yewong wo Ntoh Nso)
Yah Yeewong Ngah Bifon III
Yah Yeewong Ngah Bifon II
Yah Yeewong Ngah Bifon I (Yeewong wo Kim Kikaikom)
Yah Yeewong Sehm II (Yeewong wo Jem)
Most Yahs of status in Nso today are descendants (inherited) of former Yah Yefons and Yah Yeewongs.
A few notable examples of these reigning Yahs are:
Yah wo Kai Jakiri (Successor of Yeewong wo Nturkui)
Yah wo Abakwa Jakiri (Successor of Yeewong wo Kih Kiyan)
Yah wo Mile 3 Bamenda (Successor of Yeewong wo Roo-Kong)
The next rank of Yahs is based within the palace household, Yah Nkonin and Yah Yeela (leaders of the Fon's senior wives – Kfem se Fon). They act as managers of the Fon's household. These two Yahs must be of Mtaar origin. They also organize the Fon's farm work in collaboration with the Yeesums.
Every Shufaiship of high standing and with historical underpinnings can also have a Yah. A famous Yah in this category is Yah wo Taankum. It is still unclear why some of the big Shufaiships are allowed to create secondary Yahships but the lineages themselves do not have a Yah of the main lineage compound.
The last category of Yahs are those that are crowned by the Fon in collaboration with the Shufais or Fais. The process of naming and enthroning a Yah is very involved. The Fon cannot name a Yah without approval from the Yah's lineage or extended family. The Yah needs to do the very public "kibunfon" and a grand "kitar yiy" for the family and the public at large to recognize her as a Yah of standing. Recent examples include the "kibunfon" carried out by Yah wo Shusum (Sov), and Yah wo Mbassy in Nso Palace.
Researched Shey Stephen Shemlon (PHD)
Complied and edited by Shey Tatah Sevidzem


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Dr. Clotaire Rapaille is an internationally renowned marketing researcher. If you've ever heard people reference "archetypes," you can thank Dr. Rapaille. I worked on a project with him years ago and his core premise still holds true today - people make unconscious associations, have unconscious memories that make us sometimes unexplicably loyal to and passionate about brands and products.
My experience is that most of the time, people have no idea why they're doing what they're doing. They have no idea. So they're going to try to make up something that makes sense.
So what's with our infactuation with cup holders in cars?
Apparently it all started back in the 1920s when the Sears catalogue offer this jerry-rigged cup holder for the Ford Model T.
Then innovation took a turn in 1957 when Cadillac introduced the spiffy pull-out bar for the Eldorado.
But the true boom in cup holders came in 1983 when Chyrsler/Dodge introduced the minivan and it included two BUILT-IN cup holders.
For the rest of the world, we were still toiling away with these window-hanging gadgets were sold in convenience stores for $1.99.
Which get me back to the original question, what's with our infactuation with cup holders?
According to Rapaille:
Cup holders signify coffee, and coffee signifies safety, and safety is what women want most in cars.
The coffee archetype: You're home, you're safe, mother is preparing breakfast.
Uh, ok. So if that's the case, then riddle me this, Batman...
Why was I so blown away by the cup holder that cools your beverage in my buddy's new SUV?


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Tatiana Golovin wasted no time ditching her Lacoste summer whites — but kept her red knickers — for the North American hard court season. She dons the dress version of the Bertille, made of super dry stretch jersey in White (with Cherry and Plomb dots).
I'm normally a fan of polka dots, but this dress takes the 80s fashion revival over the edge. Plus, those blue shoes look awkward with the dress. And Tatiana definitely hyper-accessorized:
Yes, there is such a thing as wearing too many bracelets.
What do you think of the ensemble? Tell us.
Buy: The Bertille tennis skirt and the rest of Lacoste's fall/winter '08 collection available here.
>> fashion focus: lacoste's f/w '08 collection
>> camille pin, the forgotten frenchwoman
>> tattoo watch: tatiana golovin


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Preparing for the Site Visit
The Office of the Provost will send the academic unit's Program Review Self-Study Report (and Appendices) to the external reviewers in January and make initial arrangements for the dates of the program review site visit to be held in the Spring during February or March. The academic unit will work with the Office of the Provost to prepare for the program review team site visit and to develop a schedule for the external reviewers' two-day site visit.Academic units are responsible for arranging meals/expenses of the external reviewers using the regular budgetary processes of the University and Office of the Provost. The Office of the Provost will arrange airfare/transportation and hotel/lodging, and payment of honoraria to external reviewers following the program review site visit and submission of the External Reviewers' Report. Academic units should consult with the Office of the Provost regarding all budget expenses for program review.
The department/school will provide the external reviewers with an office or room for use during the visit as well as a computer and printer. In addition, meeting space will be provided for scheduled meetings of the reviewers with the various groups. It is the academic unit's responsibility to arrange tours of its facilities, as well as to schedule time for the team to review course syllabi and student work, and to meet with faculty, staff, students, and alumni.
Elements of the Site Visit
During the site visit, the external reviewers will meet with program faculty, staff, students, and administrators. The external reviewers will review program materials and exhibits of student work, attend class meetings, and tour special facilities and library holdings relevant to the academic unit. The schedule for the site visit will include time for reviewing the unit's program review documents and materials. During the external reviewers' visit, the unit shall be responsible for making the following, and any other needed materials, available: course syllabi/outlines, advising materials, samples of student work, and student theses, projects, and/or comprehensive exams.
1. Orientation Dinner
A meeting should be held at the start of the site visit with the department chair (or dean) and the Vice Provost of Institutional Effectiveness and Faculty Affairs. The purpose of this meeting is to orient the external reviewers to the goals and agenda of the site visit, and to answer any questions they have on their roles in the program review and site visit, or on the academic unit's Program Review Report and academic programs.
2. Meetings with Students
Some of the most helpful meetings of a site visit are those with students. Because students often bring up questions for which the site visitors will seek answers, these meetings should be scheduled on the first day of the visit. Faculty members should introduce the external reviewers and explain the purpose of their visit, then leave so that the students feel free to discuss any issues and concerns with the site visit team. Since undergraduate and graduate students may have different concerns, separate meetings should be arranged if possible for these students. Meetings with 5-15 students are most effective in promoting discussion and providing helpful insights and information for site visitors.
3. Meetings with Faculty Members
Depending on the size of the academic unit, two or three small group meetings may be held with faculty so that faculty members will have a chance to express their views and most (or all) programs in the academic unit are represented. One possible grouping is to create separate meetings with Senior Faculty and one for Junior Faculty. In addition, the external reviewers should meet with the faculty members/committee who wrote the unit's Program Review Report and with the faculty members/committees whose work is most closely related to the program review. The department chair (or deans) should not attend any faculty meetings with site visitors so that faculty members feel free to discuss issues and concerns openly with the external reviewers.
4. Meeting with Department Chair (or Deans)
At least an hour should be scheduled for the site visitors to meet with the department chair (or deans) beyond the orientation meeting at the start of the site visit. Because site visitors will often have questions from their conversations with students and faculty, some time for this meeting with the department chair (or dean) should be scheduled late in the site visit.
5. Preparation of External Reviewers' Report
During the site visit, the external reviewers will complete the External Review Summary Sheet and begin to draft a report that summarizes their main findings and recommendations. The site visit schedule should include 2-3 hours in the morning/early afternoon of the final day of the site visit for the external reviewers to prepare and finish their draft report that will be presented at the exit meeting/briefing. The department/school should provide a quiet private office or room for the external reviewers, with a computer, printer, and access to program review documents. Designated faculty/staff should be available to provide assistance, respond to requests, and answer any questions about the academic unit/programs. A working lunch should be provided for the external reviewers as requested.
6. Exit Meeting/Briefing
The site visit will conclude with an exit meeting/briefing attended by the Provost, Vice Provost of Institutional Effectiveness and Faculty Affairs, college/school Dean, department chair (if applicable), and associate dean(s) as requested. At this meeting the external reviewers will summarize their main findings and recommendations based on the External Reviewer Summary Sheet.
Recommendations on Hosting the Site Visit
The faculty members of the department/school should serve as local hosts for the site visit, picking up the external reviewers at their hotel, escorting them to meetings, arranging return transportation, and providing general assistance. On the final day of the site visit, the academic unit should arrange for site visitors to check out of their hotel before the designated hour in order to avoid being charged for an extra day, unless the visitors have requested to stay an additional night. The academic unit should arrange for transportation of the site visitors to and from the airport, and provide a faculty/staff member to escort the site visitors if possible. The site visitors will have two busy days and will need time to themselves in order to relax and prepare their report. Site visitors' evening hours should be kept free, following an early dinner if scheduled. Lavish entertaining is not expected or encouraged, and modest funding is provided for meals. Faculty members other than the chair (or another designated member) who go to dinner or lunch with the visitors will be responsible for their own expenses. Visitors will be reimbursed for reasonable costs and should be instructed to save receipts.


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Macro Sensors now offers its HLR 750 Series UL/ULC-listed and ATEX-approved LVDT linear positions sensors for use in the high-temperature and high-vibration environments of offshore drilling platforms. The company says that these sensors additionally deliver:
- Full-scale measurement ranges from ±1 to ±10 inches.
- A high resolution, an optimal repeatability of typically better than 0.01 percent of full scale and a non-linearity of less than 0.25 percent of full range output.
- A through-bore design, along with lead wires that exit through a radially mounted 1/2- to 14-NPT male threaded conduit for east attachment to an explosion-proof junction box, as well as conduit.
- Stainless steel construction and hermetic sealing for resistance against hostile environmental conditions.
- The ability to separate LVDT electronics from LVDT coils.
- The capacity to withstand high temperatures and vibrations, making them ideal for monitoring offshore drill clutch actuator positioning and plunger lift controls.
- The flexibility to install the electronics in explosion-proof enclosures for added protection against environmental elements.
- A UL/ULC rating for Class I, Div. 2, Groups A, B, C and D T3C Class I, Zone 2, AEx nC IIC T3Ex nC IIC T3, plus ATEX approval in Zone 1 and 2 classifications, making them appropriate for use in potentially explosive environments.


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Berry optioned to Toledo, Kelly appears to have made team
Shortly after the World Series, Detroit Tigers outfielder Quintin Berry was a guest on one of the MLB Network shows on satellite radio, and one of the hosts asked him how he expected his role to increase this upcoming season.
There was a pause before Berry answered.
"Well, first I have to make the team," said the 28-year-old journeyman, who got his first real shot at the big leagues in 2012, and earned Tigers Rookie of the Year honors. "There are no guarantees up here."
None asked for, and none given.
Berry knew it would be an uphill battle to make the squad again, especially after the Tigers fortified their corner outfield position with the addition of free agent Torii Hunter.
Just another one of the slew of left-handed hitters vying this spring for part-time duty in left field, Berry got the news he'd half expected during the offseason, finding out Wednesday that he'd been optioned to Triple-A Toledo.
Knowing it might be coming didn't make it any easier.
Tigers manager Jim Leyland told reporters in Lakeland, Fla., that it was a very hard conversation to have with Berry, very emotional.
"I don't get much of a thrill out of breaking hearts," Leyland told the beat writers, including MLive's Chris Iott.
While not fitting the profile for what the Tigers needed to add — a right-handed hitting complement to starter Andy Dirks — Berry had other things working against him, as well.
First, he had options left.
Second, he was not as versatile defensively as some of the other candidates, unable to play anywhere but the outfield.
And third, he had to fight through patellar tendinitis in his left knee, putting him behind the 8-ball in the competition.
Despite being limited to 14 spring games, Berry hit .323, and walked nearly as many times (six) as he struck out (seven).
It still wasn't enough to earn him a spot on the 25-man roster to start the season, although Leyland cautioned that the Opening Day roster is just that, and he expects Berry to contribute this season.
"I hope that he understands he's a big part of this team. He's not on it right now, but he's a big part of this team and this organization," Leyland told reporters, including Fox Sports Detroit's Dana Wakiji. "I think he did such a good job for us from time to time last year, he just had a tough time understanding it. I don't blame him."
The move leaves the Tigers with just 28 players in camp, one extra position player, and two extra relief pitchers.
Danny Worth and Ramon Santiago are vying for the reserve infield spot, although ESPN's Buster Olney reported late Tuesday that the Tigers had made other teams aware that Santiago was available for trade.
Leyland told reporters that, as it stands now, utility man Don Kelly has made the team. Kelly was designated for assignment midseason last year, then rejoined the team for the playoffs, before being removed from the roster in the aftermath of the World Series.
He cleared waivers, but elected to become a free agent, later returning to the Tigers on a minor-league deal when no other opportunities arose. Kelly had an opt-out clause in the contract, for use if he had not made the Tigers' roster, but he told reporters this week that he'd likely not use it.
For Kelly, who told reporters he'd gotten a nice text from Berry Wednesday morning, the decision was vindication of his choice to return.
"This is home," he told Wakiji.


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Fortinet has rolled out a new version of its FortiOS operating system that gives customers the ability to manage security capabilities across their cloud assets and software-defined wide area networking (SD-WAN) environments.
With FortiOS 5.6, the company's Fortinet Security Fabric gives a view of customers' public and private clouds – including Amazon Web Services and Azure – as well as assets on and their software-defined WANs, says John Maddison, Fortinet's senior vice president of products.The company is also announcing FortiCASB, a platform for securing applications purchased as part of SaaS offerings. FortiCASB is available at the end of the current quarter. It can be managed as part of the Fortinet Security Fabric.That is an ecosystem of Fortine'st gear as well as that of 22 partners whose devices can become part of the fabric via APIs. Depending on the individual APIs, the level of integration can vary.With the new management capabilities, customers can apply a single security policy, for example to block a particular botnet, and have it applied to all the security elements in their network that are part of the security fabric, he says…..The SD WAN capabilities support branch office protection by performing SSL inspection, VPN tunneling and traffic shaping.The upgraded version of FortiOS is available now as part of FortiGate purchases.


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Here are a few of the data stories that caught my attention this week:
Twitter's coming Storm
In a blog post late last week, Twitter announced that it plans to open source Storm, its Hadoop-like data processing tool. Storm was developed by BackType, the social media analytics company that Twitter acquired last month. Several of BackType's other technologies, including ElephantDB, have already been open sourced, and Storm will join them this fall, according to Nathan Marz, formerly of BackType now of Twitter.
Marz's post digs into how Storm works as well as how it can be applied. He notes that a Storm cluster is only "superficially similar" to a Hadoop cluster. Instead of running MapReduce "jobs," Storm runs "topologies." One of the key differences is that a MapReduce job eventually finishes, whereas a topology processes messages "forever (or until you kill it)." This makes Storm useful, among other things, for processing real-time streams of data, continuous computation, and distributed RPC.
Touting the technology's ease-of-use, Marz lists the following complexities "under the hood: guaranteed message processing, robust process management, fault detection and automatic reassignment, efficient message passing, and local mode and distributed mode. More details — and more documentation — will follow in September 19 when Storm is officially open sourced.
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Mapping the London riots
Using real-time social streams and mapping tools in a crisis situation is hardly new. We've seen citizens, developers, journalists, governments alike undertake these efforts following a multitude of natural disasters. But the violence that erupted in London over weekend has proven yet again that these data tools are important for both safety and for analysis and understanding. Indeed, as journalist Kevin Anderson argued, "data journalists and social scientists should join forces" to understand the causes and motivations for the riots, rather than the more traditional "hours of speculation on television and acres of newsprint positing theories."
NPR's Matt Stiles was just one of the data journalists who picked up the mantle. Using data from The Guardian, he created a map that highlighted riot locations, overlaid on top of a colored representation of indices of deprivation." This makes a pretty compelling visualization, demonstrating that the areas with the most incidents of violence are also the least well-off areas of London.
In a reflective piece in PaidContent, James Cridland examined his experiences trying to use social media to map the riots. He created a Google Map where he was marking "verified incident areas." As he describes it, however, that verifiability became quite challenging. His "lessons learned" included realizations about what constitutes a reliable source.
"Twitter is not a reliable source: I lost count of the amount of times I was told that riots were occurring in Derby or Manchester. They weren't, yet on Twitter they were being reported as fact, despite the Derbyshire Constabulary and Greater Manchester Police issuing denials on Twitter. I realised that, in order for this map to be useful, every entry needed to be verified, and verifiable for others too. For every report, I searched Google News, Twitter, and major news sites to try and establish some sort of verification. My criteria was that something had to be reported by an established news organisation (BBC, Sky, local newspapers) or by multiple people on Twitter in different ways.
Cridland points out that the traditional news media wasn't reliable either, as the BBC for example reported disturbances that never occurred or misreported their location.
"Many people don't know what a reliable source is," he concludes. "I discovered it was surprisingly easy to check the veracity of claims being made on Twitter by using the Internet to check and cross-reference, rather than blindly retweet."
When data disappears
Following the riots in the U.K., there is now a trove of data — from Blackberry Messenger, from Twitter, from CCTV — that the authorities can utilize to investigate "what happened." There are also probably plenty of people who wish that data would just disappear.
What happens when that actually happens? How can we ensure that important digital information is preserved? Those were the questions asked in an Op-Ed in Sunday's The New York Times. Kari Kraus, an assistant professor in the College of Information Studies and the English department at the University of Maryland, makes a strong case for why "digitization" isn't really the end-of-the-road when it comes to preservation.
"For all its many promises, digital storage is perishable, perhaps even more so than paper. Disks corrode, bits "rot" and hardware becomes obsolete.
But that doesn't mean digital preservation is pointless: if we're going to save even a fraction of the trillions of bits of data churned out every year, we can't think of digital preservation in the same way we do paper preservation. We have to stop thinking about how to save data only after it's no longer needed, as when an author donates her papers to an archive. Instead, we must look for ways to continuously maintain and improve it. In other words, we must stop preserving digital material and start curating it.
She points to the efforts made to curate and preserve video games, something that highlights the struggles of not just saving the content — the games — but the technology — NES cartridges, for example, as well as the gaming systems themselves. "It might seem silly to look to video-game fans for lessons on how to save our informational heritage, but in fact complex interactive games represent the outer limit of what we can do with digital preservation." By figuring out the complexities around preserving this sort of material — a game, a console, for example — we can get a better sense of how to develop systems to preserve other things, whether it's our Twitter archives, digital maps of London, or genetic data.
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Making It Home: In Depth
- How I Learned to Love My Hometown
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How I Learned to Love My Hometown
A sense of history and community tugged at the heart of Mindy Fullilove and pulled her back to the Jersey home she'd forsaken.
Molly: I didn't think we had a hometown
I shut off the lights and closed the wide barn doors.
"Once upon a midnight dreary," Jenn said softly, "while I pondered weak and weary…"
Guests, ranging in age from 8 months to 89 years, sat in rows on old couches and folding chairs. They leaned in close to hear my best friend recite "The Raven" by Edgar Allen Poe. She'd memorized all 18 stanzas for her performance in "The Molly Rose Show," an annual talent show and birthday party that I hosted in the barn behind my mother and stepfather's house in Englewood, N.J. Over the years, acts have included readings from a childhood diary, hip-hop dancing, and a ventriloquist act with a baby dressed as the dummy.
"The Molly Rose Show" came to an abrupt end when my mom and stepdad's divorce forced them to sell the house in 2009. I tried to keep the tradition going, but I gave up when I couldn't find a venue with the magic of the barn.
My mom, Mindy, didn't want to stay in Englewood after the move. We had loved our house there, a six-bedroom Victorian set back from the street with a wide front porch. But Englewood was not our hometown; I did not think we had one.
Mindy grew up in Orange, N.J., a place my grandfather once called, "a dirty little Jim Crow town going nowhere." She fled when she was 16. Her father, Ernie Thompson, grew up on a farm on the Eastern Shore of Maryland, a place he left at age 13 for Jersey City, where he worked in factories and became the first black field organizer hired by the United Electrical Radio and Machine Workers Union. His negotiating skill earned him the name "Big Train" because he could deliver the goods. He traveled the country spreading the message that blacks and whites, men and women, should fight together for fair treatment.
My grandmother, Maggie, fell in love with Ernie when they met at a union hall where she was a secretary. She was a white woman from Chippewa Lake, Ohio, who'd been radicalized by early encounters with racism. As a young woman she committed her life to fighting for justice. Maggie admired Ernie's dedication. She told me proudly that he lived on peanuts and milk for nine months during a strike one winter.
While Ernie was traveling, Maggie bought a home that faced a pond in Orange, a town on the outskirts of Newark, N.J. It was modest, but the view was wonderful, and it suited her budget. Soon after, the progressive unions came under attack during McCarthyism. Ernie found himself in Orange unemployed and depressed.
Maggie found the cure: An organizer should be organizing. Maggie learned that the schools in Orange were segregated. As a result their daughter Mindy (who became my mother) was sent to a school that was farther from home and inferior to the nearby white school. Maggie obtained a copy of the map that revealed the gerrymander and showed it to Ernie. He started a campaign and desegregated the schools within three months.
Mindy: Growing Up in Orange
My parents' friends were always coming by our house for meetings, and I grew up surrounded by their affection. I loved the leaflets they made, the rallies they held, the ideals they believed in. I was proud of my mom and dad for all they did.
But I was not convinced that I, personally, needed to sacrifice for the movement. When my parents told me that they had succeeded in desegregating the schools and, therefore, I would leave my lovely Oakwood Avenue School and go some place else, I staged a 7-year-old's version of a three-month "anti-integration" sit-in. It was to no avail. They were adamant that I go to the new school and that I stay in the public schools through high school.
Two of my dad's friends, Dr. John Alexander and Ben Jones, became a buffer through the years I was bullied for being a nerdy, biracial kid in a racially divided, working-class town. Dr. Alexander took me on rounds with him so that I could imagine what my life as a doctor would be like. Ben Jones taught me to drive my brand-new Beetle getaway car.
That car was really special to me. My dad always drove worn-out cars. Then, one afternoon, I came home with no rear fender, and Ben saved me with a joke. When I got out of my battered car, he observed, "The apple doesn't fall far from the tree!" Instead of killing me, my dad roared with laughter, while I laughed weakly through my tears.
My dear Ben was nearly 90 in February 2007 when I went to Orange to hear him speak at a Black History Month celebration at the Unitarian Universalist Church where I'd worshipped as a child. After the service, we realized that it had been 50 years since my dad's campaign to desegregate the schools. We decided to have a celebration, and I started to go to Orange for planning meetings.
My work in medicine focuses on cities as a source of health or disease, so I spend a lot of time looking at cities. I began to explore Orange. Of course, I went to see my old house and the pond, my old schools, and the beautiful library, my favorite childhood haunt. I was reminded of my struggle to carry home six hard-cover volumes of The Adventures of Dr. Doolittle. Many of the American cities I visit have been destroyed by time: I was grateful to find so many precious places were still serving the city. Still, I wondered what made Orange different.
One day Pat Morrissy, a native Detroiter, told me he'd been drawn to Orange by a group of activists my father had mentored. Pat had gone on to found a community development corporation, HANDS, that preserved the housing stock in Orange and mobilized the residents to advocate for neighborhood stability.
That, I concluded, was the answer: 50 years of continuous organizing for a better city. The consistency was striking: In 1958, my dad developed a program called A New Day for Orange, and its goals were to protect housing, make the city beautiful, have representative government, ensure an adequate water supply, and create equal access to education and jobs. In the work of HANDS, my dad's New Day Program was alive and well.
On the day of the 50th anniversary party, May 6, 2007, Pat took us on a bus tour to see the work he'd been doing. We stopped on Elm Street. A Japanese maple had just opened its burgundy leaves, which contrasted with the tan house and blue sky in a way that made my heart ache. He told a story of saving the house across the street from the drug dealers who were destroying the neighborhood. "You save one house like that and you unlock the whole block," he said.
In that minute, on that block, in the bright sunlight, I fell in love with my hometown.
The tour continued to the old industrial section called the Valley, a part of the city I'd rarely visited as a child. I looked around at the abandoned, depleted factories that HANDS was renovating and thought, "I want to live here. I want to be part of this work of saving Orange and making it a city for the next century."
"Why are y'all so into Orange?" my husband, Bob, asked. "Let's go to Paris."
This divergence in direction was irreconcilable. In 2009 my marriage of 25 years ended. I was bereft. When we had sold the house in Englewood, my mom, Maggie, asked me, "Where do you want to live?"
I was (and still am) raising my granddaughter, Lily, and so I said, "Wherever Lily wants to go to high school."
Mom pressed the question, "Yeah, but where do you want to live?"
I squirmed for a while. "I want to go home—I want to live in the Valley."
My mother said, "Well, let's go!"
A few days later, the realtor called about a house he thought would be just the right fit in the West Orange section of the Valley. He cautioned me, though, that the house had been through foreclosure and there had been a lot of construction.
Indeed, the house had been pulled apart and the kitchen torn out, but sun flooded through its mass of windows on the day we visited. Lily and I moved in October 1, 2010, about halfway through the renovations. At night we ordered pizza and played the Wii game Rock Band. I loved waiting on the stairs for our contractor Mark Miller's 7 a.m. arrival.
"How are you today, Miss Mindy?" he'd ask in his thick Jamaican accent, smiling through his white beard.
"I am glad to see you, Mr. Mark," I'd reply.
As the walls were repaired, the furnace installed, the bathrooms made to work, and the deck built, my breathing eased. When I could go into the kitchen and make tea, I felt a sense of life and security I thought I'd never have again.
Molly: Taking Up Grandfather's Vocation
My mother, Mindy, had no intention of raising me in the town she'd worked hard to escape. She brought me up in Berkeley, Calif., shuttling me back and forth to my father in New Jersey. When she moved back East, my mom sent me to an artsy private school in Brooklyn Heights, N.Y. I visited Orange before Maggie sold the house by the pond, but never imagined it was where I would land one day.
Of all the places I'd lived, our six-bedroom Victorian in Englewood felt the most like home. The house was always full of family and friends. As my mom was moving out, she asked me to rent a storage unit for all the things I'd always left with her—the letters, yearbooks, and vintage dresses that couldn't fit in any of my small apartments. Although I hadn't lived in that house for some years, I knew I could go back whenever I needed to watch cable, take a bath, or just feel space around me. At the storage company, I sat across from the man at the desk and burst into tears.
I was finishing my master's degree in journalism at Columbia University when I attended the 50th anniversary party in Orange with Mom. We didn't talk about it at the time, but that day in 2007, we were both called home.
In remarks at the event, Pat said, "One day soon, people everywhere will be talking about Orange as the urban village of the 21st century."
Later, during the reception, he asked me what I planned to do when I finished school.
"Odd question," I thought, "I will be working for you."
A year and a half later, Pat offered me a position as a full-time community organizer at HANDS. One afternoon, after running the streets with a group of teenagers collecting stories for an oral history project, I said to Pat "There are so many people in Orange in the businesses their grandparents started. Ida Woody at the funeral home, Lou Rossi at the paint store…"
"You," he added.
I have been with HANDS for three years now. Slowly, Orange has revealed itself to me. I love the kids on skateboards who wave to me as they glide past, the cappuccinos at Caffe Roma on Lincoln Avenue where men play cards and shoot pool speaking only in Italian or Spanish, and the stately buildings and wide sidewalks on Main Street.
But my favorite place of all is Ironworks, once a skilled ironworker's shop. More recently, the red brick building served as a storage space and then was abandoned.
HANDS bought the building and worked with a group of teens to transform it into a center for young artists. We couldn't move our computers in right away-—with no access to Facebook or YouTube, the teens played Michael Jackson's "Thriller" on the record player, painted a mural on the walls, and silkscreened shirts saying, "ORANGE. You Glad?"
Three years later, while creating the schedule for the Ironworks Community Gallery, two local artists/skateboarders, Anj and Stephen, planned an art show, and Mike, the program director, explained an art and music event he would host. Patricia, a fashionista from the Bronx working with us as a VISTA volunteer, asked me, "So what are we doing for your birthday?"
"I was thinking of bringing The Molly Rose Show back. We could have it here." Anj signed on to play her ukulele, Mike to MC.
Mindy: Bread, Magic, and Home
Last summer Pat said, "Let's build an Earth Oven," and Molly put out a call. Forty-three people showed up at Ironworks to build a wood-fired oven from mud, sand, and straw. People of all ages with all kinds of relationships to the city worked steadily over weeks until the oven was ready to fire. It was a great day when we gathered at the oven to eat the first bread.
Breaking bread together made tangible the new relationships that were blossoming in the neighborhood. Molly's organizing is directed at linking the people who have been in the Valley for a long time with the people, like me, who are moving in. Making these connections is slow, hard work. She calls me when she feels like she is against a wall. It reminds me of my dad, who was always struggling to create coalitions and help everyone see where their interests intertwined.
He died long before Molly was born, but we've always talked about him, and, as a third-grader, Molly won a prize for a book report on his book, Homeboy Came to Orange: A Story of People's Power.
I tell Molly that, in frustrating times, he found it soothing to walk across the street to Orange Park and watch the water flow in the pond. Or he would go take in the baseball game at the Harmony Bar, comforted by the banter among the patrons. He would use those serene settings to refocus and think about his programmatic goals. Where was he leading the movement? How might the problem be resolved to advance the cause? He worked on these knotty questions all the time.
I share these reflections with Molly. "I am sure he is very proud that you've taken up his work and that you're doing it programmatically! You're always reminding us to state what we're for. When the work is difficult, if we remember what we're for, we will find the next right action."
One day Molly texted me, "March 24 OK for Molly Rose Show at Ironworks?"
"YES YES YES!" I texted back.
"I'm going to do a magic act," she texted, "except I don't know how to do magic."
"When did we ever let that stop us?"
Over the next weeks, Molly gathered her team and they drilled and drilled and drilled.
When the crowd of family, friends, and new neighbors had gathered, the music started to jingle, Molly and the "Flying Kazinsky Brothers No Shamdrudgery Magical Revue Since 1925" transformed the old ironworker's shop into The Big Top.
I couldn't stop laughing.
Some people run away to join the circus.
I joined by going home.


text:
By H.G. Dr Geevarghese Mar Osthathios
It is very unfortunate that such a question is asked. The O. T. is the Bible of three major religions of the world namely the Jews, the Christians, and the Muslims. For the Jews it is their only Scripture. For the Christians it is the historical and theological background of the N.T. and so forms an integral part of the Holy Bible containing the O. T. and the N. T.
Our Lord has quoted from it even hanging on the Cross 'My God, my God, why hast Thou forsaken me' (Ps. 22: 1). He defeated the temptations of Satan by quoting the passages from the Bible esp. the Book of Deuteronomy. (See Dt. 9: 9; 8:3; 6: 13; 1 Kings 19: 8 Ps. 118). St. Mathew quotes profusely from the O. T. to show that Jesus was the expected Messiah. When Our Lord. read the Bible in the Synagogue at Nazareth he was reading Is. 61: 1. St. Paul's whole theology of justification by faith is based on the faith of Abraham and the very phrase, "the righteous shall live by his faith" is from Habakkuk 2: 4. The Epistle to the Hebrews can never be understood without a thorough study of O. T. priesthood, the Tabernacle, the priesthood of Melchizedak etc. (See Ex. 25-40 for Heb. 9: 1-28).
Creation of man in the image of God is basic for any Christian anthropology. The ten commandments is only fulfilled by Christ in the deeper version of it in the Sermon on the Mount and not abrogated. Those who say that the O. T. must be replaced by the Vedas and the Upanishads for the Indian Bible are not giving due value to the simple fact that Christianity is a historical religion unlike Hinduism and the Hebrew Christian Revelation has unique continuity in spite of the discontinuity. To say that Christ is the final answer for the quest of all ages and all religions is true, but there is a unique validity for the claim that the Messianic prophecies of the O. T. are fulfilled in Jesus of Nazareth.
Is not the devotional reading of the Psalter practiced in all the branches of Christendom to this very day? Is not the 23rd Psalm the most favorite passage of the whole Bible next to the Lord's prayer? Are not the stories of the O. T. more interesting to the Sunday school students than the stories of the N. T? As the very God of very God became very man in the form of a Jew, how can we understand Him and his life and teaching without a study of the Jewish Bible?
It seems to me that those who do ignore the O. T. are trying to draw a picture without a black-board or trying to plant a tree without any roots. The O. T. gives the necessary background for the understanding of the New Israel, its sacraments and priesthood in relation to the sacrifices and priesthood of the Old Israel. It can easily be shown that if we do not read the O. T. our reading of the N. T. is partial and incomplete and even unintelligible. The lack of interest of many modern Christians in the O. T. will ultimately lead them to a lack of interest in the N. T. also. Even the phrase 'Christ our paschal lamb' (I Cor. 5: 7) is unintelligible without a study of the original paschal lamb of Ex. 12.
As Jesus Christ stands between B. C. and A. D. as the center of history. He stands hidden in the O. T. and revealed in the N. T., as expected Messiah in the O. T. and as revealed Messiah in the N. T. and the whole Bible is history only as His Story. Therefore let us study the O. T. with a deep sense of dedication and expectation.
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Heart, might, mind and soul (a midweek makeup svithe)
I've been getting to bed at 2am more nights than not the last two weeks which has made me cranky and scattered and so, while I have thought about what I will be teaching in elders quorum this Sunday, I have not connected the dots. And I would love to get your input on this because odds are my cognitive capacities will not be restored by Sunday.
When Lady Steed and I lived in Provo, I remember one meeting at which spoke a member of the stake presidency. As he began to segue from talking about his former mustache to his topic, it quickly became clear that it was time for a discussion on porn, much like that my ward had with the bishop last week. But he surprised me. Most of the counseling issues in our stake, most!, were because newly married men were neglecting their wives in favor of video games. You heard me right. Video games were winning the race against nubile young wives.
That's dot one.
Dot two is a terrific article I just read about Brigham Young's take on novels (hint: he hated them).
Dot three is something that sounds very similar, but this time it's our own Elder Bednar tchtching my Twitter habit
Then, just last night as I was brushing my teeth, I read a great article on the world's cognitive surplus. People have donated 100,000,000 hours of time to Wikipedia. Isn't that incredible? And, flipside, Americans watch 2,000,000,000 hours of tv every year. Isn't that incredible. Cognitive surplus. What are we doing with the talents with which the Lord hath given us amble time to magnify?
Which leads to another apostle, Elder Ballard this time, and his take on the digital world.
These are our texts for elders quorum. And, I submit, the issues raised here are of significant importance to everyone --- to both our success as human beings, and our eventual salvation (particularly if we're interested in trading up from salvation to the salvation/exaltation package deal).
Please. Help me connect the dots.
previous svithe
8 comments:
I actually remember listening to--and loving--the Elder Bednar talk, because I especially liked his take on his title phrase of "Things as They Really Are." Unfortunately, I'm growing to know more and more people these days who aren't entirely sure about how to locate their own realities.
That's not to say that 'reality' as a topic isn't subjective, because let's face it...it kind of is. But I liked the distinction between virtual reality and actual reality. It seems to me as though Elder Ballard's talk, in its own way, falls nicely into the paradigm: to me, blogging/tweeting/what-have-you about Church-related doctrines, etc.--or even about truth in general, or I would personally expand it to even the AoF 13's "anything virtuous, lovely, or of good report, or praiseworthy"--seems a virtual means of reporting actual reality (for lack of a better term).
It has always struck me that the Internet provides a valuable way of connecting with people who share similar values and beliefs, but it also (in some sense) de-peoples those we do not know personally. When it comes to blogging, Facebooking, etc., etc. it seems inevitable that connections online are made in similar ways to the connections we make in person--except that I would say the online connections are more tenuous and more likely to be ephemeral (although they won't necessarily be ephemeral).
Something else I just thought of (not even sure any of this is helpful or even makes sense): our relationships with certain types of virtual reality end up enacting a shoddy imitation of faith where we believe and exercise trust in something/someone that we don't see but that we some believe is true (in some sense of the word). Foundations, then, seem immensely important: faith in a true foundation (Christ) never leads us astray and isn't a shoddy imitation of anything else.Theric, the link of late nights, video games, porn, twitter and wikipedia is obvious.
these are things that keep people up late, in the dark secrecy of a house where all others have gone to bed. any one of them easily leads into hours wasted on another.
they also lead to family members annoyed that while they spent their evening reasonably sleeping (the general) you have wasted time and made yourself irritable from shame or frustration.